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WebMSX v4.0 - The online MSX emulator

WebMSX v4.0 - The online MSX emulator

by ppeccin on 28-12-2016, 15:10
Topic: Emulation
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MRC user ppeccin has released version 4.0 of his MSX emulator WebMSX. WebMSX, or simply WMSX, is an MSX emulator running online. WMSX is great for displaying MSX software running inside webpages. You can launch the emulator and load ROMs, DSK and CAS images with a single link. With this new release, mobile devices are supported too.

Release notes:

  • Support for mobile iOS and Android devices
  • Finally enjoy MSX games on your iPhone/iPad!
  • Customizable Touch Controls, Virtual Keyboard, with Haptic feedback
  • Install as a WebApp on iOS/Android/Desktop, then run offline!
  • Open files from local storage, iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, web links
  • Higher resolution GUI for high-density displays, Retina displays
  • Menu navigation by keys. Easy GUI switches for most used options
  • CPU Turbo mode @ 7.16MHz

It requires a modern device to run smoothly. Android itself and Chrome on Android still have some audio issues. So for now, depending on the device, audio may have a noticeable delay. The Audio Buffer can be adjusted on the Quick Options dialog. On other platforms, there are no known issues.

For more information on this project, visit the Project Homepage

relevant link: WebMSX.org

Media browser (2)

  • WebMSX v4.0 - The online MSX emulator
  • WebMSX v4.0 - The online MSX emulator

Comments (18)

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

30-12-2016, 23:54

Nice update, great work Smile

Any plans for the near future to support MSX-AUDIO (NMS 1205) or moonsound ?

And another question. How can you emulate a game that consists of 2 or more diskettes ? I tried putting them in a zipfile, but that didn't work. I tried to make one dsk of them and that also didn't work.

By tfh

Prophet (3346)

tfh's picture

31-12-2016, 11:59

Click the bottom WebMSX icon for it's manual and click in the media tab. You will find the options there Smile

By giuseve

Paladin (787)

giuseve's picture

31-12-2016, 16:26

Great, great work !!
Can I make some questions?

Install as a WebApp on iOS/Android/Desktop, then run offline!
Uhm, what does "desktop" offline mean?
Is there an APP for the windows store?
Or is there any way to download a offline version for windows ?
Is there a "tool" or a way to use the Screenshots and the DB inside BLUEMSX Launcher to obtain a html file that launches the desktop version of WEBMSX !!

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

01-01-2017, 12:17

@tfh: Thanks and sorry, I didn't state my question correct. What I am doing is, I want visitors of our site to press a button that opens the website with the emulator. So I need to add the diskimages in the link. I found out how, just add a DISKA en DISKB in the link.
And what about future plans to support MSX-AUDIO (NMS 1205) or moonsound ? (since most of our programs support these two).

Best wishes for 2017 btw.

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

01-01-2017, 13:22

Okay, so I have loaded a diskimage in DISKA and moonsound rom in CART1. Now I get an error saying "No valid rom" Sad
Tried to do the same with a nms1205.rom, but then it isn't recognized by our programs. It's the same bug Openmsx had in version 5 or so. Had something to do with emulators resetting a certain value which the real msx doesn't. Maybe Manuel can remember how he fixed it..
If someone wants to try, this program (in basic) does a check after the logo is shown and searches for the music module (nms1205). https://remymsx2.home.xs4all.nl/download/thunprom.zip

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

ppeccin's picture

02-01-2017, 20:29

TheKid wrote:

Nice update, great work Smile

Any plans for the near future to support MSX-AUDIO (NMS 1205) or moonsound ?

And another question. How can you emulate a game that consists of 2 or more diskettes ? I tried putting them in a zipfile, but that didn't work. I tried to make one dsk of them and that also didn't work.

Hi, thanks!
Well, no plans yet for MSX-AUDIO, but will certainly try it in the future.

There are several options for multiple disks. You can insert in one in Drive A and another in Drive B.
You can also make a ZIP file with the 2 images (or more). When you load it, all images will be loaded on the same Drive Stack, for easy switching later (on the same drive, each drive has its own stack).

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

ppeccin's picture

02-01-2017, 20:53

giuseve wrote:

Great, great work !!

Install as a WebApp on iOS/Android/Desktop, then run offline!
Uhm, what does "desktop" offline mean?
Is there an APP for the windows store?
Or is there any way to download a offline version for windows ?
Is there a "tool" or a way to use the Screenshots and the DB inside BLUEMSX Launcher to obtain a html file that launches the desktop version of WEBMSX !!

Thanks!

All offline modes of WebMSX are based on the "Add to Home Screen" options in your Browser. It will create an Icon so you can launch it directly later. No APPs and no installation needed.

Regarding BlueMSX, I'm sorry, but I don't really know much about it.

WebMSX supports several parameters in the URL for media loading, etc. This method is more suited for websites and online use, like on MSX Games World

BUT yes, if you have your ROMs, you could build an URL to launch WebMSX with the specified ROMs, Disks, etc. You won't be able to use the "Desktop/HomeScreen Icon" for this, of course.

To build something like a catalog of your games, you would need to run a simple local HTTP Server, that will be serving your own WebMSX, together with your ROM files.

Its an interesting project... A web based "front end" that loads all your local ROMs and provide an easy way to open them automatically. Pretty much what "tfh" and "Konamito" have done in their websites, but locally:
MSX Games World - Aleste
TFH's Goonies

This is needed because WebApps are not allowed to open local files without user interaction. You can open files manually, use drag & drop, etc, but the files must be "served" in order to be automatically open.

Paulo

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

ppeccin's picture

02-01-2017, 21:13

TheKid wrote:

Okay, so I have loaded a diskimage in DISKA and moonsound rom in CART1. Now I get an error saying "No valid rom" Sad
Tried to do the same with a nms1205.rom, but then it isn't recognized by our programs. It's the same bug Openmsx had in version 5 or so. Had something to do with emulators resetting a certain value which the real msx doesn't. Maybe Manuel can remember how he fixed it..
If someone wants to try, this program (in basic) does a check after the logo is shown and searches for the music module (nms1205). https://remymsx2.home.xs4all.nl/download/thunprom.zip

Well, I guest that is because WebMSX does not support MSX-AUDIO yet. It does not know how to handle the ROM you are trying to use.
But I tried your program with some Music Module ROM I found (size 32K), and it run OK, no problem. It did not say anything like "MSX Audio not found", and just run with no sound of course.

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

03-01-2017, 11:49

@ppeccin: Thanks for the reply. I was hoping that when inserting the music module in CARTA would do the trick, but apperently not. I'll keep a watch out for future updates of webmsx Smile

By Manuel

Ascended (19468)

Manuel's picture

03-01-2017, 12:26

But isn't that just what ppeccin did? He put the ROM in cart slot A (I guess) and it worked.... but without MSX-AUDIO sound of course.

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

03-01-2017, 13:04

@Manuel, "without MSX-AUDIO" that's where the problem lies. The problem is not that the program doesn't work, because even without MSX-AUDIO rom it works. My assumption was that with the MSX-AUDIO rom in CARTA it would work with sound, but apperently it doesn't.

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

TheKid's picture

04-01-2017, 07:45

Okay, I did a final check (to be sure we're all talking about the same thing Smile).
I have inserted the nms1205 rom in CARTA, the disk in DISKA and run the demo and the Music Module wasn't found. So not only is there no sound, the cartridge it self isn't recognized.
Message after logo

But like I wrote already, I really love this online emulator and keep looking out for future updates. I would really like this emulator to support the music module or moonsound. If you need someone in the future to test it, let me know.

By tfh

Prophet (3346)

tfh's picture

04-01-2017, 11:05

Same here Smile Would love to see MSX-Audio support.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

ppeccin's picture

13-01-2017, 21:16

TheKid wrote:

Okay, I did a final check (to be sure we're all talking about the same thing Smile).
I have inserted the nms1205 rom in CARTA, the disk in DISKA and run the demo and the Music Module wasn't found. So not only is there no sound, the cartridge it self isn't recognized.
Message after logo

But like I wrote already, I really love this online emulator and keep looking out for future updates. I would really like this emulator to support the music module or moonsound. If you need someone in the future to test it, let me know.

MSX-AUDIO ROMs that use mappers (> 32KB) will not be correctly recognized, and software trying to find them will probably fail.
Normal ROMs that have no mappers will work and get recognized by software, but no MSX-AUDIO sound will be generated.

By Hydragon

Paladin (751)

Hydragon's picture

12-02-2017, 19:39

I would love to see support for setting variables for cartridges and disks in php, so I'm able to load content into webmsx from server end without revealing actual path.
Setting the path to file in js is client side, so I'm unable to "protect" the files for now. Since the idea is to load and play the software, not to download the software.

By tfh

Prophet (3346)

tfh's picture

28-02-2017, 21:52

I see that in te meantime 4.05 was released. Updated http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/
Couldn't find what was updated though...

By tfh

Prophet (3346)

tfh's picture

01-03-2017, 19:40

BTW, IT would be cool if this could be implemented as an option: http://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/software/nandemoscc-tiny-y...

By hit9918

Prophet (2932)

hit9918's picture

24-03-2018, 19:46

I got a development folder and an msxfiles folder in a zip
it would be nice if the msx disk could be a subdirectory in the zip